Mozzie zappers

Nick-H

Gosh...

I take for granted the facilities of living in a big city

But, if you can buy the stuff, and the velcro, then I can tell you that one side velcro is stitched to the net, the other is stapled (in our house) to the wooden window frame.

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crvlvr

And here is a handy gadget I found for those brave mosquitoes who make it in. After you chharge it up, you take a couple of swings at the flying mozzie and they are zapped into their next life.

http://www.stupid.com/stat/ZAPP.html

Nick-H

...Mine is always within reach

robotvoice

I heard somewhere (maybe here?) that mozzies will not mess with you if you eat a lot of garlic. Once you start sweating it out, they stay away. Can anyone else confirm/deny this claim?

Nick-H

Garlic. Vitamin B. All myths.

Sorry.

Only wish there was some truth in it

rajiveanand

Protect yourself with something that doesn't make your hair fall out and go to the mountains!

R.

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Aishah

Thanks Nick-H for velcro fixing advice and also crvlvr for the zapper idea - wish I could get one of those!! My mother was very adept with a plastic device she had for years - she became famous for her fly-swatting skills, a dubious attribute I thought. This morning I can give you the results of the ideas on this thread - no mozzies!!! Achieved by the Good Knight liquid evaporator high up and the coils placed outside the windows and doors where no net. I will do the netlon when I get it which will give the most desired effect of a chemical-free environment. In the meantime, thanks to all for helpful hints!

Aishah

And Rajiveanand I'm off to the mountains in mid-May to escape the heat here so that will be reprieve for me for 6 weeks!

goangoangone

........so does everyone else.

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navinkurian2002

There was this old karen lady in the andamans who had a real low tech way to zapping mozzies. She used to have this fast stainless cover with some kind of oil on it. And she used to fan her self with it. And lo voila it used to be filled with a lot of mozzies.

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edwardseco

I actually took one of those zappers to India. My inlaws laughed and laughed. Worse it was outside mosquito season so it was needless. May still be there in a trunk. The one thing I took which earned me high praise was fiberglass window netting which ala Nick I put up with velcro glued down with epoxy. Must ask if it has deteriorated due to sun..

bosquef

That is what my "Good Knight" mosquito machine claims to have in it that makes mosquitoes mysteriously disappear. A little research on google reveals the following:

Both the World Health Organization and the US EPA consider it to be moderately toxic, but not a danger when used in conventionial formulations and quantities. It is not carcinogenic or mutagenic. Just toxic (yay!). Given that the longest study of its effects was a 13 week study on rats, it is not clear whether using it in your bedroom for 2 years would qualify as a "conventional use." Alot of these toxicology conclusions are based on short term studies, and don't really evaluate long term risks - I recall a study that found that Chicago's drinking water was perfectly safe, and would only cause health problems if you drank it every day for seventy years. I'm sure that was really reassuring to all of the 69 year old lifetime residents of Chicago

Here are the actual spec sheets from the WHO: http://www.who.int/whopes/quality/en/prallethrin_spec_eval_Nov_2004 .pdf
And a summary sheet from a US NGO that monitors pesticide uses:http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC3 5755

You have to wade through a lot of words you might not remember from your organic chemistry classes, but the detailed info on toxicity is in plain english.

I've heard a rumor that you can use lemongrass oil in those things instead of the synthetic chemicals. But then again, who knows about the toxicity of lemongrass oil?

Aishah

I've heard the garlic theory but no proof.. Also in Oz we used citronella oil on ourselves. I tried it here but it was useless. So if using it in an evaporator I think not going to work.

Nick-H

Citronella is tried and tested in the labs. It works as a repellent. Not as high-rated as DEET, but it works.

There are electric zappers available with a 'natural herbal' fluid. They do smell better...

One of my problems is a dire lack of sockets: maximum one each room, which doesn't help for trying these things.

Aishah

Nick-H that is an idea... As for your lack of sockets, you can get extension cords with multi-sockets, or double adaptor things from your local electrical supplies store which will increase the no. of things you can plug in - one of those liquid machines would be very low watts so you can join it with something else. Just don't overload your circuit!! By the way, i didn't expect this thread to go on for 2 pages, amazing what you can learn here!